Storms
by IsabellaBrandybuck
Summary: Cosette is terrified of a storm, and turns to Valjean for the comfort he promised.


The Storm

Cosette awoke with a start as a loud crack of thunder pierced the silence of the house, causing her heart to pound rapidly with fear. She hated storms, especially when alone in the dark, and whimpered out loud as thunder illuminated the walls around her.

She pulled the blankets over her head, curling into a ball as though that would save her from nature's fury.

Cosette couldn't stand it when thunder crashed again outside...the entire house seemed to shake with the sound. She stumbled out of bed, flying down the darkened hallway. Tears fell down her pale cheeks, and she quickly entered Valjean's bedroom, only a few doors away from her own.

She knew she should be a big girl and brave the storm on her own, but he did ask her to call if she needed anything.

She needed his company more than anything in the world right now, and wasn't expecting him to cry out in alarm when she accidentally touched him with her ice cold feet.

"Good gracious, Cosette, you're freezing!" Valjean struggled to sit up, more than a little surporised to find the child in his bed. "What on Earth is the matter?"

Cosette bundled beneath the thick quilt, only her dark eyes showing.

"I'm frightened," she whispered, and Valjean winced as she tried to move closer.

More thunder and lightening pierced the world around them, and Valjean rubbed a hand over his face, forgetting how scary such a storm could be to a little girl.

"Come now," he soothed, and Cosette sniffed, still grasping the blankets with all her might. "It's going to be all right. The storm won't harm us, as long as we're safe inside."

Cosette gave another whimper, and Valjean pulled her into a hug, ignoring her still ice cold hands and feet. He was exhausted, not too thrilled about having been woken from the first restful sleep in days, but could not defy the sweet child who needed him so badly. After all, she'd spent most of her young life in dire need of love and care, of which her previous caretakers deprived her.

"I know," Cosette replied. "I just don't like it."

Valjean chuckled, listening as rain pounded against the windows, wind rattling the panes.

"That's perfectly all right," he said, smoothing her blond hair, freshly washed and combed earlier that evening. She no longer looked like a poor wretch, and seemed quite content in her new attire.

"Might I stay with you, sir?" she asked. "I don't want to be by myself another minute."

Valjean hesiated, but her hopeful expression melted his heart.

"I suppose just for tonight," he said.

"Will you sing me a song?" Cosette asked. "Mama used to before she sent me away."

Valjean wasn't quite sure of his ability to sing, though he knew a few lullabys that his sister used to sing to her children on cold winter nights. The same sister he'd stolen the loaf of bread for, the same sister he never saw again after nineteen years of imprisonment. He always thought about her, wondered if they were still alive, if the bread he'd taken had even helped a little.

"If you would like," he whispered.

Cosette cuddled close to his side, absorbing the warmth of his body heat.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" she asked, yawning, and Valjean smiled to himself. He felt a twinge of jealousy of her innocense, wishing he could provide her with more stablity than he could at the moment. They'd barely escaped Javert's chase two weeks before, and Valjean knew the policeman would never stop hunting him until the day he died.

"Not now, child," Valjean whispered. "It is late, we must both get our rest."

Cosette closed her eyes, feeling quite safe and content with her guardian.

When he began to sing in a quiet voice, her heart fluttered with happiness. No one besides her mother had ever sung her a lullaby, and she missed it dreadfully.

_Goodnight, my angel,_

_Time to close your eyes_

_And save these questions for another day_

_I think I know what you've been asking me..._

_I think you know what you've been trying to say._

_I promised I would never leave you_

_And you should alwas know_

_Wherever you may go_

_No matter where you are,_

_I will never be far away..._

Cosette sighed happily, letting her mind drift into a peaceful darkness. Monsigneur Valjean would never leave her, she was entirely certain of this. He'd rescued her from the depth of her despair,promised to take care of her for as long as he lived.

_I know he will, _she thought, sleep finally engulfing her. _I just know._


End file.
